Publications by authors named "J A Benen"

AmyR is commonly considered a regulator of starch degradation whose activity is induced by the presence of maltose, the disaccharide building block of starch. In this study, we demonstrate that the role of AmyR extends beyond starch degradation. Enzyme activity assays, genes expression analysis and growth profiling on D-glucose- and D-galactose-containing oligo- and polysaccharides showed that AmyR regulates the expression of some of the Aspergillus niger genes encoding α- and β-glucosidases, α- and β- galactosidases, as well as genes encoding α-amlyases and glucoamylases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger is widely exploited by the fermentation industry for the production of enzymes and organic acids, particularly citric acid. We sequenced the 33.9-megabase genome of A.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) selectively inhibit polygalacturonases (PGs) secreted by invading plant pathogenic fungi. PGIPs display differential inhibition towards PGs from different fungi, also towards different isoforms of PGs originating from a specific pathogen. Recently, a PGIP-encoding gene from Vitis vinifera (Vvpgip1) was isolated and characterised.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The fungus Aspergillus niger is an industrial producer of pectin-degrading enzymes. The recent solving of the genomic sequence of A. niger allowed an inventory of the entire genome of the fungus for potential carbohydrate-degrading enzymes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The fungus Botrytis cinerea is a ubiquitous plant pathogen that infects more than 200 different plant species and causes substantial economic losses in a wide range of agricultural crops and harvested products. Endopolygalacturonases (EPGs) are among the first array of cell-wall-degrading enzymes secreted by fungi during infection. Up to 13 EPG glycoforms have been described for B.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF